Fatah: "We in Fatah are not ashamed
to take responsibility for the heroic act"

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

In a condolence letter to the family of terrorist Mutaz Hijazi, who was killed following his attempted murder of Rabbi Yehuda Glick last week, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas referred to the terrorist as a “Shahid” - a Martyr who “rose to Heaven while defending our people’s rights and holy places.” Abbas called Israel's apprehending and killing the terrorist in a shoot-out an “abominable crime... by the killing and terror gangs of the Israeli occupation army.”

“[I] was not able to meet with your mother in order to kiss her hands and her forehead for feeding you courage and bravery from her breast, making you the revolutionary who has shortened our path to freedom. Mutaz, Allah has honored you with Martyrdom (Shahada), for which all men yearn. Your bullets were a beacon [on] a path that had become dark, the light of which will continue to shine for years to come.”

The day after the attempted murder of Rabbi Glick, Adnan Ghaith, director of the Jerusalem branch of Abbas’ Fatah movement, expressed pride in the shooting and praised the attempted murder as a “heroic act”:

“The attempted assassination of Rabbi Glick today was merely a natural reaction to the crimes the occupation is committing against the city and its residents... The Martyr (Shahid) Mutaz Hijazi, who carried out the assassination attempt was a member of Fatah and one of its activists... We in Fatah are not ashamed to take responsibility for the heroic act he carried out today, for it was a natural reaction to the occupation’s crimes against Jerusalem and its holy places.”

[“Quds News Network” website, Oct. 30, 2014]

The following is a longer excerpt of the report on Abbas’ letter of condolences to the family of the terrorist who attempted to murder Rabbi Yehuda Glick:

“[PA] President Mahmoud Abbas expressed his anger and his condemnation of the abominable crime committed against Martyr (Shahid) Mutaz Hijazi, who was murdered last Thursday [Oct. 30, 2014] by the killing and terror gangs of the Israeli occupation army.
In a telegram delivered yesterday [Nov. 2, 2014] by Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and District Governor Adnan Husseini to the Martyr’s relatives in the village of Silwan, he [Abbas] said that Martyr Mutaz rose to Heaven while defending our people’s rights and holy places. In addition, he condemned this barbaric act, which is added to the occupation’s crimes against our people since the Nakba (i.e., ‘the catastrophe’ Palestinian term for the establishment of the State of Israel), as well as the continuation of the historic injustice being committed against it wherever it is present.”

[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Nov. 3, 2014]

The following is a longer excerpt of the post glorifying the terrorist on the Facebook page of Abbas’ advisor Sultan Abu Al-Einein:

“My message to the heroic Martyr (Shahid) Mutaz Hijazi, the Martyr of Dawn, the Martyr of Jerusalem: I have met with your father on your behalf but was not able to meet with your mother in order to kiss her hands and her forehead for feeding you courage and bravery from her breast, making you the revolutionary who has shortened our path to freedom.

Mutaz, Allah has honored you with Martyrdom (Shahada), for which all men yearn. Your bullets were a beacon [illuminating] a path that had become dark, the light of which will continue to shine for years to come.

Rest in peace, for you have conveyed the message, that this is the shortest way to the freedom of nations. Your life has been the essence of the Palestinian people’s long experience of suffering, for you were a revolutionary, thereafter a prisoner, and finally a Martyr (Shahid).”

[Facebook page of Abbas’ advisor and Fatah Central Committee member

Sultan Abu Al-Einein, Nov. 3, 2014]

The following is a longer excerpt of the report on Fatah branch director Ghaith’s pride in the attempted murder of Yehuda Glick:

“Adnan Ghaith, director of the Fatah branch in occupied Jerusalem, said: ‘What has happened and what is happening in occupied Jerusalem is the result of the atrocious actions being carried out by the Israeli occupation in the occupied city. The attempted assassination of Rabbi Glick today was merely a natural reaction to the crimes the occupation is committing against the city and its residents.’

In an exclusive interview to the Quds [News] Network, Ghaith added: ‘The Martyr (Shahid) Mutaz Hijazi, who carried out the assassination attempt, was a member of Fatah and one of its activists in [Jerusalem]. Since his release from the occupation prisons in 2012 [until his death], he participated in all the [Fatah] movement’s events, and was active in it.’ He added: ‘We in Fatah are not ashamed to take responsibility for the heroic act he carried out today, for it was a natural reaction to the occupation’s crimes against Jerusalem and its holy places.’

Ghaith continued: ‘The occupation government under Benjamin Netanyahu made a point of making accusations, [to make it seem] as though this act and those that preceded it and all the events occurring in Jerusalem were the result of [PA Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas’ call to the residents of Jerusalem to defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa. This policy is nothing new from the point of view of the occupation and its government, which ignores that its actions in the city against the residents of Jerusalem and the holy places are the main reason for these operations (i.e., terror attacks) which are [a right] guaranteed by international law, which guarantees the right of occupied nations to defend themselves.’ Ghaith concluded [by saying]: ‘Fatah was and remains on the frontline of resistance activity, and calls on all Palestinians to unite against the occupation.’”